Means for adjusting the height of spring-planks for railway-trucks.



No. 837,078. I PATENTED APR. 3, 1906.

' M. LINTUN M'NS FOR ADJUSTING THB HEGH'I OF SPRING PLNKS FR RAILWAY TRUCKS. APPLICATION FILED 3111.911906.

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no effective means for adjusting this nn'rrnn enf-tree lilitl'llllil hlilll ll-'il'llill l@ ll'Ah/l, Vlflliliinhit et CUVPANY, (lll1 A Fill M.,

no. eraove.

Specification of Letters ltffvtentu Patented April 3, '1906.

Application lild January 8, 1906. Serial lilo. 205,114.

To ft/Z mit/:nt t lit/.Ly colto/17%.'

Be it known that 1l, Mouais LINTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at MoorestowinN ew Jersey, have invented certain lmproveniente in Means for Adjusting the lleight of Spring-flanks of Railway-'l`rucks, oi' which the `following is a specification.

The object ol my means for adjusting the height of the spring plank of a railway-truck whereby the height oli the body oi the ear at one or both ends can` be readily varied when necessary.

ln practice it has been found that a carbody oiten settles at one or both ends or the spring-plank of thetrucli settles at one side or the other, and at the present time there is spring plank so as to level the body of the car. By my invention l provide means which een be manipulated without dismantling the truck and, in fact, without removing the truck from the car.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional View through a truck, illustrating my invention, the section being on the line 1 1, Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a sectional vien on the line 2 2, Fig.l 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged ,detail view ol" part of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a pers[ eotive view ol one 'of the boxes, and

lha. 5 is a perspective View' oi one of the the frame of the truck, having boxes for the axles B B, on-wh1ch are mounted the wheels l1.

` l.) (l are the brake-beams, carrying brakeshoes c c andv hung from the transversebeams e, ol the body portion ol" the truck by links c. l) is ya spring-plank, and E is a bolster. 'hunled between the bolster and the springn plant; are springs e e oi the elliptical type in the pr sont instance, although it will be un deretoml that any type of spring may be used. il is the body of the car, pivoted tothe bolsi er lil, and rarriedby the car-liolster it is one of the center bearing-plates L., and carried .by the bolster lil is the center plate e', the oar bolug ,')ivoted to the truck by the ordii'lary eentenpnl it".

rthe above-deseribed construction forms no part of my present invention.

Mounted on the truck-frame .A are bearing-boxes l?. (Clearly illustrated in Figs. 3 and Ai.) fihe boxes are made by taking a flat form an abutment mventlon 1s to provide spring-plank.

' plate, cutting it tothe desired shape, and re cessing it at fior the passage -o'i the snspen- 55 sion-bar, then bending up portions of the plate to form side inernbersfl of the bleek, the side member j" having the recess jn there in and, the member j"-' being solid, so as to movement oi the suspension-bar. There are four of these boxes, a pair being mounted on each side ol. the truck. Mounted in the boxes are blocks I, each having an opening i for the passage oli the suspensionbar. ing is in line with the recesses f ,in the boxes.

G re rescnts suspension bars extending across t 1e con tral opeiling inthe truck. Each bar has its ends mounted in the block l, and

to prevent longitudinal 6c This open- I6 5 the rods are prevented from moving longitu- 7o dinally by 'the solid side members f2 of the boxes. Thus no nuts orkeys are used to hold the bars in. position.

J J are saddles which extend under the spring-plank D and support it. saddle at each. side of the truck, as illustrated in Fig. 2. The arms of each. saddle. are Vper14 iorated at their upper ends for the passage of the suspensiol'if-bar G, from which each eadi11- the present lnstanee there 8o dle is hung. is a shoe j carried by each saddle, and this shoe has a roundsurliace resting in a concaved seat in the spring-plank. By this construction one portion ofthe truck is free to There is a. 7 5

swing laterally independently oi" thcother 85 portion.

Usually the connections between the spring-plank and the body ol the truck have been such that it is impossible to malte any vertical adjustment; but by my invention l 9o am enabled to maite at least four different adjustments to regulate the height of the It will be noticed in referring to Figs. 3 and 5 thatthe opening in. each block is not in the center ell the the distance between the opening and the four ends el the bloot. differ-forinstance, the opening is nearer the end i than it is to the end i", but the opening is nearer the end than the end i, while the end li3 is opening than the end i4. lonseqnently there are four possible adjustil'ients. lf, for instance, the blocksv are in the position shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the spring-plank is at its 10W- est point, and ii it is the spring-plank slightly all that is necessary bloeit, but 95 nearer the roo found desirable to raise 105 s ring-plank so that on turning the blocks necessary to make another adjustment, the

is 1;. jack the spring-plank and turn the bleek so that the end 'i/ioi" the block will rest upon i the box and the adjustment is made. il it is block can be turned so that the portion i will rest upon the box, and so on. l

It will be understood that while i have j shown a quadrangular block which can be turned so as to make four adjustments a hexagon or triangular block may be used Without departing from my invention.

I preferably number the ends, as shown in Fig. 5, so that the mechanic-Who is making the adjustment can readily see by looking at the numbers that the adjustment has been properly made;

1. The combination of a car-truck, a springplank, blocks mounted on the car-truck, and connections between the blocks and the t 'e springlank can be adjusted in height, substantial y as described.

2. `'The combination of atruckfrarne, a s ring-plank,v a saddle by which the s ringp ank is suspended from the frame, locks carrying the saddle, said blocks being so formed that dii'ferent adjustments of the spring-plank can be made by turning the blocks, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a truck frame, a spring-plank, a suspension-bar, means connecting thesuspension-bar with the spring-k plank, blocks inrwhieh the suspension-bars are mounted, the openings in the blocks be-' ing such ,thatr they will be nearer one side of the block than the other so that on turning the block different adjustments of the springp/lank lcan be made, substantially as described. A 4. The combmation of a car-truck frame, a l

i springplank, boxes carried by the frame,

blocks mounted in the boxes, openings in the blocks at one side oi the center of each block,

suspension-bars mounted in the openings in the blocks, and saddles'hung from the sus pension bars and supporting the springplank, substantially as described.

5. The combination of a eantruck trarne, a spring-pl ank, bearing-'boxes mounted on the frame, each bearing box having two side members, one side member being recessed, blocks mounted in the said boxes and laterally confined therein by the side members oi the box, an opening in each block, a suspen sion-'bar having each end mounted in the i openings in the block and extending through the slottedportions of the boxes, the solid side members of the boxes reventing the longitudinal movement of t 1e suspensionbar, and connections between the suspension-bar and the spring-plank, substantially as described. l .A

6'. The combination of a ear-truck frame, a spring-plank, quadrangular biocks carried by the truker'rame suspension-bars mounted in the blocks and connections between the suspension-bars and the spring-plank, the

`vopening in each biock for the reception o the bar being so situated that the distance between the opening and the ends of the bleek will Vary so that on turning the block the spring-plank 'can be adjusted to different heights, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this speeii'ieation in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

MQRRIS LINTON Witnesses:

Laon P teorias, FSW/ann JAuns ABBOTT. 

